Disney is hardly going Christian. Nor is it reversing all DEI themes. However, at least in some areas, they are finally bowing to the reality of an anti-woke culture where “inclusiveness” can now include a Christian, if not a Biblical Christian worldview. Evidence of this transition can be seen across the broader spectrum of American companies in general. For example, Walmart just announced it is considering exiting Delaware as their state of incorporation due to the state’s “embracing [of] far-left DEI, environmental, social, and governance policies and attempting to force them on corporations,” (details here).

What Does Disney Own

It is enlightening to see the depth of Disney’s influence on American culture by observing the extent of its reach across media and entertainment outlets. Beyond their parks and cruise line, below are some of Disney’s larger media assets (details here and here).

ABC News

ABC News falls under the umbrella of the ABC broadcast network and is part of the family of Disney corporations. It was acquired in 1996 with programs like “Word News Tonight” and “Good Morning America” being two of their best known outlets.

On March 6th, it was announced that the staff at Good Morning America would be “entirely gutted” as they try to regain viewership from past anti-Conservative bias that has undermined their credibility and revenue (details here).

“The View” being one of the more controversial and progressive “news” shows on ABC is heading in the opposite direction. It is being expanded into the weekends with “The Weekend View”… featuring the show’s Friday panel. This comes “amid significant controversy, particularly surrounding co-host remarks by Sunny Hostin comparing the J6 event to historic atrocities like the events of WWII and historic slavery …. Disney appears to be doubling down …. By extending the show’s reach, Disney signals endorsement of its hosts and their perspectives, even when they provoke public outcry” (details here).

ESPN

Acquired in the 1990s, ESPN includes multiple TV, radio, websites, and streaming outlets.

Hulu

Disney acquired controlling interest in Hulu shortly after purchasing 21st Century Fox in 2019. It provides streaming content including news and entertainment.

National Geographic

Also acquired with 21st Century Fox, National Geographic offers a platform to promote and educate the public on environmental issues, scientific discoveries, and general global cultural reporting.

Disney+

Known for what Disney refers to as “family-oriented” content, it also offers a platform for contemporary social issues. The streaming service has been bleeding subscribers, from 164.2 million in 2022 to 149.6 million at the end of 2024.

ABC Family Channel

This acquisition, completed in 2001, is also a streaming subscription service similar to Disney+. It gave Disney the rights to over 6,500 existing episodes of children’s and family content along with Major League Baseball games.

Disney Movies

The Disney family includes Lucasfilm (Star Wars), Marvel Entertainment (Spider-Man, Iron Man, etc.), and Pixar (Toy Story and Cars). From its purchase of 21st Century Fox, Disney also maintains the rights to many older, classic films. Pixar will shortly release a film that is a major departure from their traditional progressive agenda (see ‘Disney and Christian Content’ below).

Disney Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

For many years, Disney has been at or near the center of the woke cultural shift in America as American morality has followed Europe like lemmings toward the abyss. Evidence of Disney’s historical position on DEI and its derivatives is blatant.

However, the recent public backlash in lost revenue has reached the stockholders and consequently the boardroom to some degree. If one types the words “Disney and DEI” in a Duck-Duck-Go search string,p below are the first headlines that appear, in order from the top.

“Disney Shifts Away From DEI to Return To Its Entertainment Business Mission” – Forbes 2/13/25

“Disney Scales Back DEI Efforts: What Happened to ‘Reimagine Tomorrow’?” – Diversity.com 2/10/25

“Disney becomes latest company to roll back DEI programs” – Washington Examiner 3/5/25

“The Corporate DEI Divide: From Target To Disney, Here Are The Companies Scaling Back And The Ones Doubling Down” – AfroTech 1/28/25

“Disney Drops Diversity Programs in Win for Trump” – Newsweek 2/11/25

“Exclusive: Disney making changes to its DEI efforts” – Axios 2/11/25

“Disney tweaks DEI programs to focus on business outcomes, memo says” – USA Today 2/12/25

“Disney to change content warning for ‘Peter Pan,’ ‘Dumbo,’ other older films in broader DEI shift” – KTLA TV (Los Angeles) 2/11/25

“Exclusive: GM, Pepsi, Disney, others scrub some DEI references from investor reports” – NPR 2/7/25

With one interesting exception, the links above represent the results on the first page of a search on “Disney and DEI.” Would you like to know the exception? See the image below …. Yes, the last link of the first page of results from a Duck-Duck-Go search of the words “Disney and DEI” is a link to a dead page on www.waltdisneycompany.com…

Disney and Christian Content

Finally, just one significant example of the recognition by Disney that their bottom line needs more attention from a broader audience would be the new “Win or Lose” animated movie for children just announced by Pixar which includes a Christian character named Laurie.

“With the introduction of its first explicitly Christian character in nearly two decades …” and the first “Christian prayer in Disney content since 1996,” the “studio’s recent decision to drop a transgender storyline from the same project” (details here), clearly demonstrates Disney has finally accepted the culture of America which has documented (by polling) a resistance to DEI and an attraction to Christian values. This is especially true for their primary audience of families and children.

Conclusion

As Biblical Christians, we need to be wise as serpents, yet harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16). We need to recognize that the changes being seen at Disney and so many other sectors of our business community are not based on a transformation in morality. These changes are being dictated by bottom line profitability, which has actually been ignored by C-Suite executives until recently (example: Bud Lite).